How Things Change
by tigersbride
Summary: Olivia is working another menial case, with an interesting suspect. Post TMFTOS. Implied P/O. T for language. One Shot.


It was just another day working menial crimes. It was all she was authorised to do after the decline of Fringe Division six months ago. Olivia entered the dark warehouse, gun in hand, and shuffled silently past crates of goods to see the back of a man, fiddling with a cheap imitation cell phone on a desk. He seemed to have heard her footsteps. Without looking behind he ran to his left and then straight forward; Olivia cursed under her breath and broke into a sprint to try and catch up with him. They were soon outside, the street lamps lighting his silhouette.

"FBI! FREEZE!" Olivia screamed, aiming the gun at the suspect as he tried to escape. He slowed to a stop as the slamming of car doors alerted them both that the FBI back up had arrived. The man stood with his hands up.

"Turn around" She demanded, sidling closer. His head pointedly shifted downward, so that his eyes were pointing at the floor. He blatantly refused her request. A few other agents approached, all with guns pointed, so that they were in line with Olivia.

"Turn around" She repeated. He sighed a little, and slowly shifted his body to face the agency.

Shock rattled through Olivia's bones and she drew in breath tightly. The tears that came to her eyes lingered there pleadingly, but her anger kept them back. She could hear the other agents muttering, speculating what was going on. She approached the man in front of her, taking his arm and dragging him into the back of the car. Neither of them said a word.

Olivia climbed into the driver's seat and sat still for a moment, desperately trying to forget her passenger as she stared pointedly at the road ahead of her. The other agents continued into the warehouse, exchanging glances and worried looks as they began the search operation.

"Liv?" came a quiet voice from the backseat. She chose to ignore it, and turned the ignition, pulling the car off. They continued the rest of the journey in quiet, both shocked into silence.

_________

Upon arrival at the FBI building, Olivia led her suspect by the arm inside. They took the elevator to the correct floor, and he tried to provoke a reaction in her again.

"Olivia... please..." he begged. Again she did not respond, but felt betraying tears swim to the surface of her eyes once more. She led him along the corridors, stopping at an interrogation chamber and leading him inside. She abandoned him here, and stepped outside, slamming the door. Shaken, she leant against the door as it closed, feeling her legs give way as she tumbled to the ground sobbing.

It took a few minutes for someone to find her. Phillip Broyles had noticed a familiar face on his CCTV, and had come to consider the situation.

"Dunham" he stated, as she picked herself up and brushed away her tears. "Are you okay?"

Olivia nodded and sighed. "I'm sorry, sir, it's just such a shock..."

"I understand, Dunham, this can't be easy." He sounded almost sympathetic. "Do you want the case reassigned?"

Olivia shook her head fervently. "No thank you, sir, I need to talk to him"

He nodded, aware of her competence to deal effectively with her emotions. Olivia sighed and wiped her eyes, preparing herself for the inevitable conversation with a man she hadn't expected to see again. She took a deep breath, and entered the room.

______ 

Peter Bishop immediately looked up, taking in with horror Olivia's pasty complexion, noting the dark circles under her eyes, which were currently tinted red. Had she been crying?

"Peter" she acknowledged, sitting down on the chair opposite him.

"Olivia..." he said concerned, not taking his eyes off her. She was too afraid to meet his, he noticed.

"You've been found to be involved with a company selling fraudulent products online, and claiming them to be genuine. This is a violation of..." she was claiming, matter-of-factly.

"Livvy shut up a minute" he interrupted. She looked up, and when their sight met he felt like her hurt and almost hatred of him was being radiated through to him. He practically recoiled, desperately wondering how things had got so bad for her. It hurt him worse than he imagined it would, not that he ever imagined being near her again.

"You cannot talk to a federal officer like that" she stated firmly, refusing to accept him as someone she once knew.

"You shouldn't talk to a friend like that" he competed. This made her angry, as the tears that lingered at her eyes brimmed again, threatening to spill.

"Fuck you Peter" she hissed "You stopped being a friend the day you abandoned me and your father, the same day he got taken back to St Claire's, the day you lost Astrid her promotion, the day you deserted your WORLD, Peter"

He'd blown it now.

"It's not my world though is it?" he spat back at her. "You stopped being a friend the day you lied to me about that"

"I lied to protect you" she retorted. "I was waiting for Walter to do it himself, or I was going to, I swear to you. And you don't even know the full story."

"I know enough, Liv. The selfish old man must have killed his own son by experimenting on him and instead of admitting his mistakes he took another version"

"You're the one that's selfish! You've doomed us all!"

"It never got that bad, Liv, and besides, can't you and all your beloved run and hide in _my_ universe? Be on the winning team?"

"Don't be pathetic, I wouldn't desert my people"

"I wouldn't lie to my friends!"

"I was only lying to give Walter a chance to explain! He was trying to save you! Your mother was the one that wanted to keep you!"

"You didn't even know her!"

"Did you?"

Their voices had raised enough that Broyles had entered without them realising. He was so angry that he'd got up from his chair unnoticed, and he and Olivia were mere inches apart, eyes furiously raiding each other's.

Broyles tapped Olivia on the arm and she stormed out frustrated. He remained.

"I hope you know how much damage you've done, Bishop" he began. The intimidation and fear I'd felt of the man resurfaced as he displayed his disappointment. "I can't even begin to describe the devastation your absence has done to Dunham, or your father. Even Agent Farnsworth is struggling to keep a position in the bureau. I hope you understand what a threat you've put us in. Your replacements are no way near as capable as your old team, and at the rate they are succeeding, this universe is likely to be safe for another month from Newton's attacks."

Peter stayed silent through this, a sense of horror and guilt slowly creeping through his veins with every harsh syllable he uttered. He wouldn't admit it, but a part of him missed this life, and that's what ultimately had let him accept the fraud job in Boston. He'd subconsciously hoped maybe Olivia would get him.

______

Nothing had changed on the wall she stared at, Olivia noticed. She'd been staring at the same patch for little over an hour, her mind churning the events of today and her heart churning the emotions she'd tried to forget. "Come on, Dunham" she muttered to herself.

She stood and headed slowly toward the interrogation rooms, wondering what on earth she could say. She sighed, knowing she needed to apologise for some of the things she said and for the lie which added to his leaving.

As she entered, their eyes met.

"I'm sorry..." they both started simultaneously. They shared a small, embarrassed smile, before Peter got up and grabbed her in his arms. She noticed the familiar scent that lingered on his clothes as she clutched them with her fingers. It made her smile to feel him squeeze her slightly. She hadn't allowed herself to realise how much she'd missed him.

"Livvy I'm so sorry" he repeated

"No, Peter, it's my fault, I should never have kept it from you..."

"But I left you, and in doing so I've put us all in danger"

She let him go; this shocked her slightly, was he understanding the reality of their situation?

"I'm not going to charge you with anything, and you're all but checked out Peter, so if you wanted to leave..." she said shyly.

"No, Liv" he reassured her.

She smiled at this, was he back? Would things return to normal? It wouldn't be difficult to get the clearance from Broyles, he knew exactly the danger they were in. The death toll had risen significantly since Peter's disappearance. Walter would be the problem; would his condition have deteriorated further?

"Can we go home, though? I could do with a decent night's sleep..." he asked nicely.

Olivia froze. She hadn't considered that. The Bishop's tiny house had been sold around a month after Peter's departure. Walter had been in St Claire's and both she and Astrid had their own places.

"Uh..." she stuttered, not sure how to begin. "You don't... we had to... they sold your house"

"Oh" he sighed, he hadn't expected that, but as he thought about it, he didn't blame her.

"You can stay with me for a while, until we sort something out." She offered and he accepted. "Wait here a while, I need to talk to Broyles"

Leaving the room, she went to meet her boss. She grinned and his face turned from apprehension to relief.

"Got him back" she smiled.

______

Later that night, Peter was lying on Olivia's couch. It was slightly too short; his feet hung limp off of the side. This, the slight breeze, and his overwhelming emotions were keeping him awake despite his tiredness. He stared blankly at the ceiling, until Olivia's door opened and he saw her sneak into the room, evidently trying not to wake him.

"Hey" he whispered into the darkness. He saw her jump slightly, but watched as her FBI reflex settled when she adjusted and saw it was only him.

"Hey" she replied, slipping over to him and sitting down on the footstool. "Can't sleep?"

"Nah... too much going on" he admitted sadly. He sat up so that he was facing her. "I really am sorry. I wanted to come back so many times but I didn't know how, and I was still so angry..."

"I know, it's ok, we'll work on getting Walter back in the morning" he could see her lips curve into a smile in the darkness. He was suddenly consumed by a desire for her which he repressed. He was tired, and there was too much to consider without breaching that boundary as well. Besides, he didn't want to risk losing Olivia again when he'd only just got her back. His thoughts were silenced when a soft hand was placed on his cheek, removed, and replaced by two soft moist lips. "I missed you"

"I missed you too, 'Livia"

Peter leaned forward and tugged on her arm. She shifted onto the sofa and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder, clutching her tightly.  
"How is everyone, despite everything?" he asked

"They're okay. Rachel's re-married, Astrid's got engaged, but she had a slight demotion when we lost the division. Broyles is Broyles..." she ended her update with a smile.

"Do you think they'll forgive me?" the question was simple, and Olivia sighed sympathetically.

"With time" she decided.

The two stayed quiet then, enjoying each other's presence and drawing in the warmth that they each radiated. It wasn't long before they both fell asleep, now comfortable and enough at ease to allow the slumber to take them, and for all their worries to be reassured by the future, which looked now to be significantly more promising.


End file.
